Movie News, Reviews, and Discussion Super-Thread

[Cormacaroni]

Lynch's Wild at Heart blew my mind when I first saw it. At first I thought it was because I was high as a kite at the time, but it holds up on subsequent rewatchings. It's not a small-screen experience though, and you have to have some tolerance for Nic Cage scenery-chewing.

[Cheebs]

Lynch's Wild at Heart blew my mind when I first saw it. At first I thought it was because I was high as a kite at the time, but it holds up on subsequent rewatchings. It's not a small-screen experience though, and you have to have some tolerance for Nic Cage scenery-chewing.

Wild at Heart is great. My third* favorite Lynch next to Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. Though I am the type to love me some Nic Cage scene-chewing.






*By third I actually mean fourth because as well all know Dune is Lynch's masterpiece.

[Ichirou]

Lynch's Wild at Heart blew my mind when I first saw it. At first I thought it was because I was high as a kite at the time, but it holds up on subsequent rewatchings. It's not a small-screen experience though, and you have to have some tolerance for Nic Cage scenery-chewing.

Wild at Heart is great. My third* favorite Lynch next to Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. Though I am the type to love me some Nic Cage scene-chewing.






*By third I actually mean fourth because as well all know Dune is Lynch's masterpiece.

Dune love

[Ichirou]

CHEEBS STYLE DAVID LYNCH MOVIE RANKINGS

1. Elephant Man
2. Blue Velvet
3. Wild at Heart
4. Dune
5. Mulholland Drive

[Cheebs]

CHEEBS STYLE DAVID LYNCH MOVIE RANKINGS

1. Elephant Man
2. Blue Velvet
3. Wild at Heart
4. Dune
5. Mulholland Drive

Ranking eh?

1. Blue Velvet
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Wild at Heart
4. The Elephant Man
5. Lost Highway
6. Eraserhead
7. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
8. Dune
9. Inland Empire

Never saw Straight Story.

[Ichirou]

At least we both agree that Blue Velvet = awsum.

[Cheebs]

At least we both agree that Blue Velvet = awsum.

I'll fuck anything that moves.

[Phoenix Dark]

Do The Right Thing

Didn't really like it.  Not very subtle.

Well it was worse than Bamboozled and Driving Miss Daisy so it failed all my expectations.  The worst thing was that it was claimed to have been a warning of the LA riots and the Rodney King abuse and everything, but it's climax scene was fucking tame compared to reality.

no fucking words

[brawndolicious]

Did you really not read the post I made right after that?

The problem with DTRT is that it shows all the sides as cliche caricatures.  I was fine with that until the climax when everybody all of a sudden went from happy and getting along to throwing trash cans through windows with no explanation at all of why they changed.  The movie assumes that you believed there is always some racial tension in a diverse neighborhood where everybody is just waiting to erupt in a riot.  I can't find the characters or the situations believable so I don't feel like there was any relevant social commentary.

Do you get that?

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Holy fuck Bong Joon-ho's Mother almost made my face melt off. Incredible film.

Korean cinema is sweeping the floor with the rest of the globe, clearly.

[Phoenix Dark]

Did you really not read the post I made right after that?

The problem with DTRT is that it shows all the sides as cliche caricatures.  I was fine with that until the climax when everybody all of a sudden went from happy and getting along to throwing trash cans through windows with no explanation at all of why they changed.  The movie assumes that you believed there is always some racial tension in a diverse neighborhood where everybody is just waiting to erupt in a riot.  I can't find the characters or the situations believable so I don't feel like there was any relevant social commentary.

Do you get that?

You clearly didn't "get" the movie, at fucking all. It's almost 2am and I have no intention of discussing film with a man of your reputation (see: godfather, everything else).

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Discussing film with am nintenho

EDIT - And simply for argument's sake I've heard that "everything suddenly gets crazy" critique before and it's bullshit. Do people seriously watch the film and simply take the totally callous and unnecessary death of a major character at the hands of police in stride? That's the whole turning point of the film, not when Mookie throws the garbage can through the window. And if you know anything about riots and/or mob mentality thinking they'd have such a brash reaction to a black man being unnecessarily killed by white cops isn't a huge stretch to make.

[Phoenix Dark]

bububu the film is racist cuz all the white characters are racist!

everyone in that movie is fucked up, black white hispanic whatever. no one does the right thing

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Danny Aiello isn't a one-dimensional character, nor is he racist. Spike Lee wasn't trying to make him a one-dimensional lololol old racist guy type character. Spike does get touchy with his racial politics every now and then, but invariably people will misread Do the Right Thing and claim the dude is trying to say something or make some wild statement that he isn't. People project a hell of a lot onto that film. In DTRT both the black and white characters have their faults and act brashly and indulge in baseless stereotypes and race-related confrontations; it's not a LOLOL DUMB WHITE FOLKS movie.

Or to put it simply, yes, "no one does the right thing"

[brawndolicious]

Discussing film with am nintenho

EDIT - And simply for argument's sake I've heard that "everything suddenly gets crazy" critique before and it's bullshit. Do people seriously watch the film and simply take the totally callous and unnecessary death of a major character at the hands of police in stride? That's the whole turning point of the film, not when Mookie throws the garbage can through the window. And if you know anything about riots and/or mob mentality thinking they'd have such a brash reaction to a black man being unnecessarily killed by white cops isn't a huge stretch to make.

No, it doesn't make sense for Mookie to defend Sal when he's brandishing a bat and screaming distinguished black fellow but to throw a trash can through a window for something Sal had no control over.  These are people who knew each other for  years and that's why Mookie trusts Sal enough to defend him to Buggin' Out and why Sal brags about the neighborhood growing up on his food.  It shows them genuinely liking each other for most of the movie and then rioting against Sal, not against any ideology or specific act, within a day.

I can see how it might show the effects of people being too stubborn or insecure but it has nothing to do with racism.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

By throwing the trash can, Mookie probably saved at least one person (Danny Aiello's) life. Think about that for a moment.

[brawndolicious]

Didn't indicate that in the movie but I read up on it and that was actually the reason why Mookie did it.  But that still shows mob mentality and not racism.  At most, the movie is trying to say that the crowd is afraid of racism but burning down the Italian Wall of Fame and getting beaten back by fire hoses wouldn't do anything but make them feel that their anger is righteous.  What's the point in that?

[The Dark Shake 3000]

It does indicate it in the film. You just have to be willing to do some of the heavy mental lifting yourself. Mookie throwing the garbage can through the window turns the mob's attention from pouncing on Aiello to pouncing on his property.

[brawndolicious]

To get rid of a mob.  It was about defusing a misunderstanding.  The movie is not about how people become racist or how racist attitudes affect other people.  It shows a very petty misunderstanding killing Radio and ruining Sal's life.  I can see it making a point about how people don't act properly when in a mob or in response to police brutality but the movie doesn't ever try to explain anything about why people believe in racism or how it exists in society.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

After looking over your post again, it appears you understood the movie more than you let on. You're just pissed the movie wasn't as gung-ho about racism as you expected. It's not a just movie about racism. Racism is simply a theme, one which Lee regularly explores in pretty much every film he has ever made. More than anything DTRT is about people failing to "do the right thing" and passing blame or projecting onto other people/places (like the Wall of Fame) to vent and make up for past indiscretions. If anything the characters in the film use race as a crutch and an excuse to indulge their base urges; the film isn't simply about racism, it's about how racism functions in modern society.

You seem to have picked up on that, yet still missed the point. Hmm.

[brawndolicious]

I can understand that, still disappointed though.

[Ichirou]

After looking over your post again, it appears you understood the movie more than you let on. You're just pissed the movie wasn't as gung-ho about racism as you expected. It's not a just movie about racism. Racism is simply a theme, one which Lee regularly explores in pretty much every film he has ever made. More than anything DTRT is about people failing to "do the right thing" and passing blame or projecting onto other people/places (like the Wall of Fame) to vent and make up for past indiscretions. If anything the characters in the film use race as a crutch and an excuse to indulge their base urges; the film isn't simply about racism, it's about how racism functions in modern society.

You seem to have picked up on that, yet still missed the point. Hmm.

Missing the point is nintenho's specialty.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

I think he did understand the film more or less, he just didn't like it. Oh well.

It's still a masterpiece

[Cheebs]

The President took Michelle Obama to Do The Right Thing on their first date. If it is racist that means Obama is racist by proxy. 

[Ichirou]

The President took Michelle Obama to Do The Right Thing on their first date. If it is racist that means Obama is racist by proxy. 

I already knew Obama had a deep-seated hatred for white culture.  Glenn Beck told me.

[brob]

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

Trailer for a stop motion animation film being worked on by the dude what made Samaorost and Machinarium. Looks cool, even if it only made me fantasize about a Machinarium film made by Svankmajer... 

[The Dark Shake 3000]

omg Antichrist Criterion edition

Great flick, if you can stomach it.

[Robo]

CHAOS REIGNS

 

[WrikaWrek]

Ghost Dog

 

[The Dark Shake 3000]

The Fly

[brob]

Watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It doesn't really hold up very well, I seem to remember liking it, in that Boondock's Saints way, but all the issues that I had with Sherlock Holmes (poor comedic timing, forced dialog, etc) were all present in this one too. I'm scared of watching Snatch again now... =(

Also, Snatch has a much superior soundtrack and cast, so I guess Lock, Stock is thoroughly useless. :\

[Ichirou]

Guy Ritchie was never very good.

[brawndolicious]

I think LSTSB and Snatch were basically perfect at what they tried to do.  I also loved Rocknrolla, but that was a little bit more focused and insane of a movie.

[Mr. Gundam]

I watched The Blindside on the flight over here, and I hate to admit it, but the power of God and football melted my cynical film snob heart.

[brob]

RocknRolla wasn't very good, I thought. It had very few dialogs that were as funny as what was found in Snatch or Lock, Stock. The scene with the two russians in the car comparing scars was a definitive high-light though.

[brawndolicious]

It's that crazy rock star that really makes the film for me.  He looks and acts exactly like one of my friends.

[Cheebs]

Watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It doesn't really hold up very well, I seem to remember liking it, in that Boondock's Saints way, but all the issues that I had with Sherlock Holmes (poor comedic timing, forced dialog, etc) were all present in this one too. I'm scared of watching Snatch again now... =(

Also, Snatch has a much superior soundtrack and cast, so I guess Lock, Stock is thoroughly useless. :\

Snatch is still his best film. Sherlock Holmes I thought was pretty decent. Not a great movie but a solid little blockbuster and was surprisingly filled with a lot of Guy Ritchie touches (the good with the bad). It wasn't just director-for-hire work. Have you seen the Guy Ritchie movie Revolver? It is really really weird.

[Ichirou]

I have seen the Oliver Reed Revolver.  It rocked.  Ennio Morricone soundtrack.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Snatch is good stuff, nothing else he has made has ever done much for me though. Revolver is kind of like Casino meets The Room but a lot less interesting than it looks on paper. :'(

[Cheebs]

Ritchies Rock'N'Rolla is worth seeing for Tom Wilkinson scene chewing.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

omgz

[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Ichirou]

That was pretty fucking awesome.

[Cheebs]

That was pretty fucking awesome.

It's no Dune.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

That ad is better than any Friedkin movie

[Ichirou]

That ad is better than any Friedkin movie

Which means it's at least twice as good as Heat.

[Great Rumbler]

Perfect Blue

One of the few animes that's genuinely disturbing for the right reasons. It's the sort of movie that gets in your head and messes around with things so that you're not sure what's going on anymore, like Mima herself. It's clear that even in his first feature-length film that Kon had a grasp of how to build tension, and keep building it, and an eye for disturbing imagery. I wouldn't call this an overly complex film, but it knows how to keeps its card close to its chest so that you're not really sure how it's going to end until it finally does.

[Ichirou]

They actually made a (apparently really shitty) live-action version of Perfect Blue a few years back.

[Great Rumbler]

They actually made a (apparently really shitty) live-action version of Perfect Blue a few years back.

I read up on the live-action version a bit and it sounds pretty horrible. 

[Phoenix Dark]

I watched The Blindside on the flight over here, and I hate to admit it, but the power of God and football melted my cynical film snob heart.

feel good movies for whites

[The Dark Shake 3000]

I watched The Blindside on the flight over here, and I hate to admit it, but the power of God and football melted my cynical film snob heart.

feel good movies for whites

[brawndolicious]

Have you seen the Guy Ritchie movie Revolver? It is really really weird.

man I hated that movie.

[TEEEPO]

i saw a prophet a few weeks ago. the only expectations i had walking into the theater was based on the title and the fact that it was french so i naturally figured it was going to be an overtly cheesy film with an overbearing swooping sentimental score which intended to shove a moral lesson of religious tolerance down my throat. typically not what i go for but i went to the movie theaters blindly. not only was i wrong, but i was not prepared for the unbearable gut punching tension, especially while watching malik carry out his first "mission". i recommend watching it.

[The Dark Shake 3000]

Yeah, the assassination scene is one of the most unnerving things I've ever seen.

[brob]

yup yup. I've been crying about the prophet for some time now. No theater around here carries it so I've yet to convince anyone :'(

One of my friends said she didn't care because it lost at the oscars. I'm still recovering from the rage.

[TEEEPO]

that's why you need friends who don't watch the oscars though it would've been rather tough to beat the winner. that film was

or white ribbon

haneke

[brob]

mhm. I thought the foreign category was a lock because of those two, but then some other tosser comes along and wins. :'(


I need to watch the Piano Teacher soon.

[Cheebs]

mhm. I thought the foreign category was a lock because of those two, but then some other tosser comes along and wins. :'(


I need to watch the Piano Teacher soon.

the one that won is apparently pretty awesome too. more than one good foreign movie last year perhaps 

[brob]

Haven't gotten a hold of the winner yet. But the white ribbon and the prophet were both better than anything else that year.

[TakingBackSunday]

Yeah White Ribbon was pretty amazing

[The Dark Shake 3000]

I haven't seen The White Ribbon yet, and it was playing in NY for like two months. I also consider myself a pretty big Haneke fan so wtf :'(